Day 24 - Tuesday, July 2, 2002

Marshfield to Golden City, MO (Golden City Bike Hostel)

Ride length: 81.1 miles (130.5 km)
Total to date: 1561.13 miles (2512.4 km)
Moving time: 6 hr 3 min.
Average Speed: 13.4 mph (21.6 km/hr)
Total ascent: 4175 ft. (1272.5 m)
Minimum elevation: 943 ft. (287.4 m)
Maximum elevation: 1503 ft. (458.1 m)
Ending elevation: 1079 ft. (328.9 m)
Wind: 10 mph south wind (crosswind; tailwind for 10 miles or so).
Weather: 70°F (21°C) in the morning; got up to 85°F (30°C) by the end of the ride at 1:00pm.

President Bush had a colonoscopy this past weekend. Everything turned out to be normal. His doctor said, "We found exactly what you'd expect in a colon - Missouri residents." That's right, Missourians have continued their unbelievably obnoxious behavior. From yelling and throwing things from the windows of their cars to impoliteness, people have proven to me that Missouri isn't a nice place at all.

I ate breakfast at a diner this morning. I ordered a ham and eggs breakfast for $3.95 and a large orange juice for $1.50. It was an excellent breakfast but when I got the bill it said that the meal was $4.95 and the juice was $2.00. When I went to pay I told her that she made a mistake but she continued to punch the amounts into the register and didn't acknowledge me. I refused to pay and asked to see a menu to compare the prices. She said that they recently raised the prices but didn't get new menus printed yet. I pointed out that their breakfast special was only $4.25 and was the same as what I had except it came with biscuits and gravy instead of toast. She said that the specials are always cheaper. I looked around the restaurant and found a man who was eating the same thing I did and had the check on the table. I went over, picked up the check and showed her that she only charged him $3.95 - he was definitely a local. She said, "Fine, I'll give you the old price just to shut you up." That really got me upset because she was definitely overcharging me just because I was a tourist.

Here are some pictures of fields:

I saw something very unique today. There was a utility line crew working on some power lines today. The unusual thing is that they were using a helicopter to work on the lines. One guy sits on a platform to inspect and repair the line. Absolutely amazing. This photo was extracted from the video I took of them - that's why it's washed out.

Missouri is famous for one lane bridges. Here's one

Before I reached Golden City I rode under a storm. It grew very, very quickly and I got lucky by riding beyond its edge before it let out some fury on the towns east of Golden City. Here are some shots of the storm growing.

Here is a picture of some flat road running through prairie. I suppose this is what Kansas will be like.

The bike hostel in Golden City is awesome. They have five beds, laundry facilities, a hot shower, air conditioning, and a living room with a T.V. The library on main street allowed me to check my e-mail and do some Internet banking and I had some pie at Cooky's. Cooky's is an awesome place that cyclists often go to. They have a log book and an article on the wall of the restaurant from Farm & Ranch Living magazine that tells about the repuation their pie has among cyclists and local farmers. Cooky's has their own farm where they raise beef cattle and they buy all their ham, potatoes, and vegetables locally. It reminded me of the Lone Star restaurant in Farmington, Pennsylvania near the scout camp I worked at for a decade.

Food: 2 muffins (880 Cal.), 2 quarts orange drink (720 Cal.), peach rings (560 Cal.), 2 scrambled eggs, 1/2 lb. ham steak, hash browns, 2 slices of toast with butter and jam, 20 oz. orange juice, 6 L water, slice of blackberry pie ala mode, 3/4 lb. pasta, 3/4 jar of pasta sauce, cup of coffee

Hostel: FREE but I left all sorts of food and supplies for other cyclists